Biopsy forceps are used to obtain tissue samples from a particular site in a patient's body for analysis. Such samples can be taken from the heart, stomach, lungs and the like. Typical biopsy forceps include a long flexible catheter tube having a pair of opposed jaws at a distal end and a handle at the proximal end. The physician can manipulate the handle to open and close the jaws.
In order to take a tissue sample from a patient, the physician must insert the catheter tube into a guide sheath which has previously been inserted into one of the patient's vessels. Next, the biopsy forcep's distal end is inserted into the guide sheath, which then guides it into the patient's vessel. From the patient's vessel the physician can direct the catheter tube to the site the physician wishes to biopsy. Once the catheter tube is directed to the biopsy site the physician can control the jaws using the handle, which remains outside the patient's body. By using the handle, the physician can open and close the jaws of the device in order to take a tissue sample. Once the tissue sample has been taken the physician must keep the jaws in a closed position to remove the sample from the patient's body. Once the sample has been removed from the patient's body it can then be examined.
When taking a tissue sample there is an ideal amount of tissue that is needed in order to perform the necessary testing. In order to prevent either too much tissue from being taken or not enough tissue from being taken in order to perform the testing varying size jaws are available. If too much tissue is taken from the biopsy site then there is a risk that the organ could be completely perforated or that so little tissue could be left after biopsy that it could rip or tear. If not enough tissue is taken from the biopsy site then the physician will have to perform multiple biopsies, which increases the risks to the patient and could also lead to perforation, ripping or tearing of the patient's organ. Therefore, certain biopsy forceps come in varying size jaws to enable the physician to take the appropriate size tissue sample for the organ being biopsied.
Once the physician has taken a tissue sample, the biopsy forceps must be cleaned before they can be used on the next patient. When a tissue sample is taken with inseparable biopsy forceps, the interior of the biopsy forceps becomes soiled. The soaking method of sterilization does not sufficiently clean the inseparable biopsy forceps because material gets caught in the interior of the biopsy forceps and soaking does not remove it.
To ensure adequate cleaning of the biopsy forceps new forceps were developed enabling replacement of the flexible catheter tube and end jaw assembly and the sterilization of the handle after every use. Replacement of the catheter tube and jaw assembly ensures that each patient has clean biopsy forceps because it eliminates the problem of the interior of the biopsy forceps being soiled. However, by replacing the catheter tube and jaw assembly for every biopsy that is performed, excessive medical waste is created. To eliminate the excessive medical waste problem, reusable biopsy forceps were improved to enable easier cleaning with cleansing ports.
In order to sufficiently sterilize the inseparable biopsy forceps a method was developed to flush out the interior of the catheter tube and jaw assembly of the forceps. This method involves flushing out the instrument's interior with a cleansing fluid by injecting the fluid through an inlet under enough pressure to dislodge any material that has been left inside the biopsy forceps during the taking of a tissue sample.
Also, once biopsy forceps are used they must either be replaced or refurbished in order to ensure that the jaws remain sharp enough to take another tissue sample. Some biopsy forceps have been developed with replaceable end jaw assemblies. Others have been developed that are replaceable where the catheter tube and handle meet, thereby replacing both the catheter tube and jaw assembly together. Still other biopsy forceps enable a physician to replace either the catheter tube or the jaw assembly or both. By enabling replacement of either or both the catheter tube and jaw assembly the biopsy forceps can be used longer by allowing for only replacement of the worn out part rather than completely replacing the biopsy forceps.
In addition to needing to be cleaned, reusable biopsy forceps must be refurbished as they get worn down to ensure they remain sharp enough to take a tissue sample. As biopsy forceps become dull there is an increased chance that using them could cause tearing or ripping of the patient's tissue. Initially to sharpen the jaws of the biopsy forceps conventional machining methods were used, however these methods often resulted in the jaw edges that were rough and not ideal for taking tissue samples. Later methods were developed to sharpen the jaws of the biopsy forceps using a chemical solution and a power supply. This electrosharpening method sharpens the jaws by delivering an electric current to the jaws in a chemical solution and removes any imperfections in the jaws edges leaving sharpened edges.
However, biopsy forceps have not yet combined an interior cleaning method with replaceable catheter tube or jaw assembly. Accordingly, what is needed are biopsy forceps with the means for replacement of the catheter tube and/or jaw assembly and an interior cleaning method. In combining both replaceable catheter tubes and/or jaw assemblies with an interior cleaning method the replacement frequency of biopsy forceps will decrease.